Improvement in billiard-tables



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Patented Oct. 8,1872.

improvement in SiHiard-Tables. No 132,08&.

UNITED STATES PATE rrron.

JOHN HUNT, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BILLIARD-TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,084, dated OctoberS, 1872.

' which the following is a specification:

The object of the invention is to more perfectly adapt a four-pockettable to serve as a carom-table. Removable pieces intended for thispurpose have been before employed, but they were deficient inadjustability. My invention allows of adjustment to provide for everycondition, and furnishes reliable means for holding the removable partsvery firmly in the, right position.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means ofcarrying out the invention. The accompanying drawing forms a part ofthis specification.

Figure 1 is a plan view, showing the parts in place in a pocket; andFig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

The additional figures represent the parts detached from the table andon a larger scale. They represent onlythe parts which apply from above,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line S S in Fig. 4, and Fig. 4. is aview from below.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A A are the cushion-rails connected in any ordinary or suitable mannerto the main table 'A. B B are the elastic faces, which are ordinarilytermed the cushions, constructed in any ordinary or suitable manner. 0is the net which receives the ball when it is pocketed. I use the termpocket to indicate the space between the jaws of the cushion or thespace through which the ball has to pass to enter the net 0. Adescription of one of my corners will suifice for the whole. D is themain frame of my removable part, and E E are adjustable sections ofcushions secured thereon by bolts 6 6 inserted through slots in thepiece D. The cushions E E are of such material and so proportioned thattheir action shall be as much as possible like a corresponding part ,ofone of the main cushions B B The back of each section E E is of iron,and the bolts e 0 allow of adjustment of the sections E E further fromor nearer to each other. In setting them they are moved apart until theymatch fairly against or form, practically, each a continuation of theadjacent permanent cushion. Then the bolts 6 e are tightened.

It may be practicable to reach these bolts c e by a suitable wrench, toset them while the frame D is in place in the table; but it is about aswell, in practice, to remove the frame D carefully, with its attachmentsproperly placed, and tighten the bolts 6 c after such removal.

It is found that not only do the widths of pockets vary in differenttables as ordinarily constructed, and even in different corners of thesame table, but also that the depths of the pockets and the inclinationand height of the cushions vary to a considerable extent.

The main frame D overlaps a little up on the lining of the cushions B BThe height of the sections E E is not, however, dependent entirely ormainly upon that. There are adjustable pieces below which bear directlyupon the surface of the main table A. G G are stops constructed in theform of lovers pivoted to the part D by the screw 9. These stops performtwo important functions. By pressing horizontally against the innerfaces of the cushion-lining they form reliable stops to prevent theentire carom-block from being driven backward, or caused to spring inthe least under a strong blow. They are adjust-- able by means of thescrews g 9 By tightening either of these screwsas, for example, g -thecorresponding stop G is moved strong ly outward, and, by pressingagainst the fixed face of the adjacent oushionlining B the block D isadjusted inward. The stops G G perform another function. They receivethe screws H H which are tapped into them, and stand with their broadsmooth heads pressing fairly upon the surface of the table A below. Theparts G G2 projecting or lapping under the part D, as shown, lift fairlythereon according as the screws H H are adjusted. The stops G Gtherefore perform the double functions of adjustable stops to hold theframe D and its connections against being pushed outward and adjustablesupporting means to hold 1 the same at the proper elevation. The frame Dmay or may not bear by its overlapping portion upon the upper surfacesof the cushion lining. The overlapping parts will usually be held up ata little elevation above the cushions, or, if itappears to touch, itwill not bear with much force. It is important to allow for theelevation and depression of the cushions. by means of the screws H H andtherefore the main bearing is on these screws at the bottom. A portionof the hearing may come on the overlapping parts of the frame D withoutdamage, so long as there is capacity in the parts to descend lower whenthe screws H H are adjusted to admit it. I provide adjustable pieces I 1held by bolts 03 i standing in slots in the outer portion of the frameD, and drawn upward by screws k 70 inserted through slots in the upperportion of the frame D. These adjustable pieces I I are constructed withbeveled ends faced with leather, adapted to match under the slightlyover-hanging sides of the pocket.

They serve to take hold on the sides of the pocket, and to hold theframe D and its con nections firmly down, as also, and mainly, to holditvery firmly against sidewise movements. To adjust them, the screws k 70and the bolts i t are slackened, and the parts I I are then movedoutward until they bear firmly under the inclined sides of the pocket.Then the bolts 43 i are set up tightly, which fixes their position withregard to forward and backward movement, but allows them to be afterwardraised slightly by the action of the screws 70 k in which motion theyturn on the bolts 2' 43 as pivots. The settingscrews 70 k lifting on thestout leather-faced pieces I 1 cause the latter to draw downward on theentire apparatus by lifting under the slightly-inclined jaws or sides ofthe pocket. The back end'of the frame D is sup-. ported by astouthook-headed screw, L, which is constructed with a broad fiat head,adapted to hook to and bear fairly on the pocket-frame, as represented.-It is tapped, not directly into the piece D, but into avertically-adjustable piece, M, which is supported in eyes formed on thepiece D, and is adjustable upward and downward by means of the thumb-nutm, below. The inclination of the piece D and its attachments may bevaried at will by changing the height of the piece M. A very importantuse of this adjustment is to compensate for the accidental bending downof the frame D, (sometimes termed the pocket-'bow,) which is alwaysliable to occur in the use of a table. P is a bar, extending acrossbetween the cushion-rails, and adapted, as represented, to receive aslender screw-bolt, Q, which is formed with an eye matching on a hook,d, formed within the angle of the frame D, and is provided with athumb-nut, R, by which it may be tightened. The bolt Q is easilyinserted and removed through one of the meshes of the net (J.

1011 slackening the nut B, the eye at the oppo site end of the bolt Qmay be disengaged from the hook at, and the parts P, Q, and B,

removed. Then the parts above may be removed by moving the whole bodilyinward toward the center of the table.

After the parts are once perfectly adjusted they should be kept so,taking care, by marking the parts or otherwise, that any given set ofremovable parts shall be always used in the same corner. In removing theparts to exchange the condition of the table back to that of apocket-table, it may be necessary to slacken the thumb-nut m, and thusallow the hook-bolt L to rise, in order to let go its hold upon thepocket-frame. It may be also necessary, in most cases, to slacken thescrews 10 W, or one of them; but the operator soon becomes accustomed tothis, and by counting the number of turns or half turns given in eachinstance, and turning them again to the same extent on reapplying theparts to the table, the adjustment is made certain and very easy.-

My invention requires no alteration in the table. It interferes in noway with the ordi nary removal of the rails, and the replacing thereof.On the contrary, it allows, by its fa cility of adjustment, for all thedisturbances and changes in the relations of the parts which areliableto result from ordinary or extraordinary repairs and adjustments.

I claim as my invention 1. The stops G G and adjusting-means 11 H incombination with the sections of billiard-cushions E E as specified.

2. The vertically-adjusting means k 10 in combination with the sectionalbilliard-cushions E E and arranged to abut on the table A, as specified.

3. The cushion-sections E E adjustable confining-means 0 c and frame D,adapted to serve relatively to each other and to billiard-table pocketsof different widths, as spec ified.

4. The vertically-adjustable piece M, and hook-bolt L, or itsequivalent, in combination with the angle piece D, carrying adjustablesections of billiard-cushions E E and ar-' ranged to serve therewith, asand for the purposes specified.

5, The adjustable side pieces I 1 with means for adjusting outward andinward, and with means 70 70 for strongly tightening the contact withthe jaws of the pocket, as herein specified.

6. The cross-bar 1, bolt Q, and nut R, in combination with aframe-carrying section of billiard-cushions, and adapted to servetherewith,- as specified.

7. Sectional billiard-cushions, adjustable in width or distance apart,and adapted to match tightly in the pockets of billiard-tables, as

specified.

S. The combination of a rigid angular frame, sections ofbilliard-cushions, means for adjusting their distances apart, means foradjustingthe whole outward and inward relatively to the table, means foradjusting up and down, and means for adjusting the inclination, allsubstantially as herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of May,1872, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses: JOHN HUNT.

WM. 0. DEY, ARNOLD HoRMANN.

